Notes, Notings, and Common Refrains

"Doritos -- 'Sling Baby' -- Crash the Superbowl -- 2012 Finalist"
(30 seconds)

Opening scene: Wide shot of Grandmother in a motor wheelchair, and a Baby in a bouncy-swing harness on a porch.

Boy [off-screen, singing to the "taunting tune"]: Who has the Doritos? Who has the Doritos?

Quick cut to a view from behind the Grandmother and Baby, of the Boy, in a tree fort, on the far side of the yard.

Boy: (continues singing) Who has the Doritos? (speaking) You want one? Sorry! Ha, Ha, Ha!

[Baby and Grandmother exchange a Look. Grandmother nods firmly.]

[Extreme close up of the Grandmother's hand on the joystick of her chair, going backward]

[Extreme close up shot of the bouncy-swing's springs attached to the porch ceiling, being pulled taught]

Boy: [Off-screen, muted] Too bad. You're down there and I'm up here .... Mmmm... These smell so good!

[Baby in Grandmother's lap, tucked under her arm, now at the back of the porch.
Baby gives thumbs-up.
Grandmother lets go.]

[Extreme slow motion: Baby flies across yard, and snatches bag from Boy's hand, while Boy's eyes are closed.]

[Boy opens eyes when he realizes his Doritos are gone, and looks up.]

[Closing shot of Baby back in Grandmother's lap. Bag of Doritos is in her hand; Grandmother and Baby each hold up a chip in mock salute to Boy.]

[Closing animation of Doritos logo with *Crunch* sound effect].

I love this ad because A) the Grandmother is shown as cool and strong, regardless of the wheelchair, and B) the wheelchair is shown for what it actually is: an effective tool for getting access to what you want.

Unfortunately, it did not get enough fan votes to actually get aired during the Superbowl -- the one that did win centered around mocking the concept of identity disorder, and laughing when the person got hurt. But considering the self-selecting group of people who did the voting, maybe that's not surprising.

Still, this one is being shown now, and it's out there in the cultural cloud.

---
Also, in playing and pausing this ad for the transcript write-up, I noticed a continuity error: in the opening shot, the Grandmother has one of those folding portable tea-trays with a tea-cup and doily on it, that's missing for the rest of the spot. I suppose it was there in the first place to push all the "hopeless old lady" buttons in people's minds, even though they had to get rid of it for all the action shots to follow.

hmf.